Yesterday my brand new monitor would not receive signals, stayed black and refused to turn on or off. This morning a self-wick feature in a pot for a large house plant backfired and put yucky brown water all over my sunroom floor. When I tried breakfast, the phone rang just as I took the first bite. The backyard weeds just won’t quit. The day is already too short for my to-do list. I’m tempted to grumble before I even start anything.
Two things shout back at me. The first is the movie I watched on television last night, “Flight 93.” Who can complain about petty things in life after witnessing the graphic reality of what happened on that fatal flight? The movie was well done and hard on my emotions. I thought about the families who talked to their loved ones on the telephone as the passengers planned to overthrow the terrorists. How are they now? What do they feel about a movie made about this tragic loss in their lives? My problems are very small.
The second is this mornings reading from 1 Corinthians 10. It starts out describing the Israelites wandering in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt, and how they continually disobeyed God.
Then it says, “Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition . . . .”
I can say I’m not lusting after evil things, and am not guilty of sexual immorality. I don’t think I am tempting Christ (by questioning His plan and power to care for me and deliberately refusing to trust Him), but that last one gets me. Complaining is included in this list of awful sins.
Philippians 2:14-15 says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
James 5:9 adds “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be judged.”
If I want to be mature, blameless before God and harmless to others, I must forget about complaining. It is such an ordinary human activity. Why does God speak so strongly against it?
Lust says, I am not happy with what God has given me; I want more.
Sexual immorality says, I am not happy with what God has given me; I want different.
Tempting or questioning Christ says, I am not convinced that You know what you are doing or that it is for my best interests.
Complaining says, I am not happy with the way God sovereignly rules my life and I want everyone to know about it.
Enough said. I’ll clean up the flower pot, weed the yard, tackle as much of that list as I can, and at the same time work harder on the antidote: being thankful that I am alive and that I know a God who is big enough for both the big issues and for my very small problems.
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